Less than a month to SHOT

That time again, I have picked up a neat gadget I will share with you for your booth staff.
Pictures and review this weekend.
Stay warm

6 weeks out to SHOT 2010 show time

Yes I am still alive, just when you thought it was over!
I will be back to writing more now that I kicked that nasty cough medicine habit, I have weened my self down to just two shots of NyQuil a day now.
Upcoming is the "Trade Show Boot Shootout" and yes, we have a winner!
I also want to talk about what are  the best convention centers for a trade show.
More soon

If you are running a flashlight with a Cree emitter, take care and watch out

If you are running a flashlight with a Cree emitter, take care and watch out
I will update this when I have the reports back. I do not want to give the company name out until I hear back from them, hopefully this is a one time freak occurrence.

UPDATE 10/23/09 from older post

I received my light back last week. No note, no explanation or even a "kiss my butt" post it note in the envelope. I did contact the company by land line and was told that the battery I used ( I sent it with the light at their request) was  a "cheap" battery and that I should only use "name" battery's. OK, I will admit that I threw in a CVS brand battery,  that was made by Duracell I believe, but come on, the thing exploded, I mean it blew right the hell up.
Now I am fine with a company protecting itself from lawsuits, but to not even say "sorry it blew up guy, glad you didn't lose an eye" that is just sad, poor customer service in my thinking.
Maybe it's just me, but I would think if you sold something that had the potential to explode like a 22 short, you would give your consumers a little waring about it. I contacted a company that is working with cutting edge flashlight designs and was told by their owner that they had heard of no other explosions like this happening to anyone else.
So, I should start a company testing stuff for consumers, because it seem like if it's going to have a catastrophic failure, I will be the one it happens to.
I am using the replacement light now, but I make sure when it is on the shelve, the cap is loosened all the way.
Only in my world would this happen.

NTOA 2009

                  http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com/2009/10/death-by-entertainment.html

Well, what can you really say about a two day show in Tulsa. Everything seems to be subjective, it just depends on who you talk to.

The 1st day for us was busy for the 1st few hours, then it seemed to turn into a standard vendor fest in the afternoon.

The 2nd day started slow, with a burst around lunch time, then a mandatory meeting for the attendees drained the hall to nothing for an hour or so. Why this had to be scheduled during the show hours was beyond me.

We were blessed with having some great vendors in our area, neat items to look at and super people to talk to, I just wish we had not spent all that money to do it!

I spoke with some vendors that thought it was a total waste of time and money, and a couple that said it was a great show for them.

Everyone across the board complained that the dept money was drying up, we knew that was coming though.

I spoke with a dept that was even disbanding their SWAT team due to the lack of a tax base.

I heard from one east coast PD that they have to cut back all training due to funds, now they will only be shooting once a year and all other times training with red guns only, that is hard times.

Will we do NTOA next year? I think our money would be better spent at ILETTA, time will tell.

Talking with a lot of long term vendors brought out that many companies are going to be cutting back on their shows next year. Times seem to be tough all over, it just took a little longer to get to us.

On the personal side, Tulsa was not bad, had a great hotel, had a great meal on Monday night with some wonderful people and most of the other time off was spent shopping for crap we forgot to bring.

The 22 hour trip out brought only one surprise, I was driving through Ashville NC and my truck started to fill with a dense white cloud, that had a unique smell. Having only 14000 miles on the truck, I was shocked and dismayed that this was happening. Pulling over rather quickly I bailed out of what I thought was a burning deathtrap.

I then bravely ventured back into the vehicle to save what I could of my possessions. I then heard a dying hissing noise, I reached into the back seat and found a can of Right Guard that I had placed in my last minute luggage bag (walmart shopping sack) had shifted and dumped the entire contents into the cab! Needless to say I felt a huge amount of relief (and a huge amount of being a dumbass)

During the last day of the show, the promoter came with some local PD and took Sam away from the booth, no, not to put him in a new pair of bracelets, but to show him that a truck had hit a pole in the parking garage and sent it thru the back window of his Tahoe! He then spent 5 hours waiting for the glass company to come and replace the window for his trip back to the shop in TX. I got to work the booth alone for the rest of the day, then break it down,( I had the easy job, waiting with the truck would have killed me) I think we were the last ones to load out.

The trip home was long, boring and uneventful, as much of it as I can remember. I think I slept thru half of it, even though I was the only one in the truck. I don't think that I will be driving to many shows that are over 12 hours away alone anymore, although I still feel 16 ( ya, right) time has taken a toll on the old body. Then again, flying the friendly skies sucks also, we will see how it goes.

I think we are done now for the year, show wise. Next will be SHOT 2010 back in "wonderful" LV

I will have some reviews up soon on some items that I picked up that might help at the shows and an update on the search for the ultimate "show boot"

Stayed tuned

NTOA 2009

NTOA was great and it sucked details to follow soon

TREXPO East 2009 over, on to Tulsa and NTOA

The TREXPO show was, again, a very well done show. The morning of the 1st day was packed in the 400 aisle section right up until lunch time. After classes started it became more of a vendor to vendor love fest but still all in all the 1st day was good.The 2nd day went as it has for the past years, slow start with a brisk pick up around 11:30 and a die off at 1:00.  In all a very good show, one of the few that really reaches the federal  level, with out all the hassles that go along with a show in DC.
The show management will go over and above for the vendors, and the meet and greet after the 1st day is still something I look forward too all year. I also like the facility, flat, no loading dock to contend with, easy in and out for those who tote their own displays.
I could do without the food prices and quality, but those are the things you live with on the road.
The area abounds in good hotels and food choices for dinner and is somewhat easy to get around in, as long as they are not working on the roads. We made more U turns then average due to the fact that the exit ramp we needed was blocked.
Grade on this show 9 out of 10 for location and facility
10/10 on administration of show
8/10 attendance and interest of our product.

Now its on to NTOA next weekend, Anyone going from NC and wants a ride, just yell at me

It happened to me, a cautionary tale about Cree lights

So, a few weeks ago I bought some very High tech teeny tiny flashlights that had just come out. they are a tad bit larger than the AAA battery that powers them and they put out 62 LM for 48 mins, same light as the 1st surefire 6P models, you also can have 18lms for 4 hours or 1.5 for 48 hours. Looked well built, nice pocket clip and great light output. Took them to the trade show, even sold a few to some of the flashlight guys and others that had never seen them before.
Now, last night, it is a week later to when I got back, I am in the office at the house, "She who will be obeyed" (My significant other) is in the dining room on her lap top , about 70' away from me. I hear what sounds like a 22 magnum pop off, very loud sharp crack. I jump up and head down the hall to meet her coming towards me asking "what the hell did you do" Both of us were perplexed as to what made the noise, then proceeded to search the house for the culprit.
After 45 mins I look at the table in the dining room and saw that it looked like the surface had been covered with glitter, I picked up the flashlight and noticed that the lens was missing and the "glitter" I saw was glass particles.
The light was in the off position, and I was using an alkaline battery, as per the instructions.
could have been worse I guess, but still not a good thing. The flashlight uses a Cree xp-e Q5. I contacted the maker and they have never heard of this happening, I also called a friend who is one of the top flashlight designers in the US and he has never heard of it either. very strange happenings.
I am sending the damaged light back to the company, and another one I have to be tested by another company to see why this happened.
If you are running a flashlight with a Cree emitter, take care and watch out
I will update this when I have the reports back. I do not want to give the company name out until I hear back from them, hopefully this is a one time freak occurrence.

UPDATE 10/23/09
I received my light back last week. No note, no explanation or even a "kiss my butt" post it note in the envelope. I did contact the company by land line and was told that the battery I used ( I sent it with the light at their request) was  a "cheap" battery and that I should only use "name" battery's. OK, I will admit that I threw in a CVS brand battery,  that was made by Duracell I believe, but come on, the thing exploded, I mean it blew right the hell up.
Now I am fine with a company protecting itself from lawsuits, but to not even say "sorry it blew up guy, glad you didn't lose an eye" that is just sad, poor customer service in my thinking.
Maybe it's just me, but I would think if you sold something that had the potential to explode like a 22 short, you would give your consumers a little waring about it. I contact a company that is working with cutting edge flashlight designs and was told by their owner that they had heard of no other explosions like this happening to anyone else.
So, I should start a company testing stuff for consumers, because it seem like if it's going to have a catastrophic failure, I will be the one it happens to.
I am using the replacement light now, but I make sure when it is on the shelve, the cap is loosened all the way.
Only in my world would this happen.

__________________
Never knock on Death's door. Ring the bell and run, he hates that.
I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it.